Beeeeep
by LadieLazarus
Summary: This is loosely based on canon of Astonishing and the Wisdom miniseries... reference to the answerphone messages


Author's Note: This story is derived on that panel in the Wisdom miniseries. However, it does take certain liberties with the characters therein, and I'm sure when the next issue comes out, it will change everything, but for now, this is what you get.

Beeeeep

Friday

**Ring (which sounds suspiciously like "Blinded me with Science")**

**Ring **

**Ring **

Hey guys! You've reached Kitty's phone, but unfortunately, not Kitty! Leave me a message and I'll get back to you as soon as I can! Thanks, bye!

Beeeep

Ummm… hullo, Pryde. I'm not gonna bother leavin' my name, you already know it, right? Right. Anyway, I… umm… well… see.. it's like this… Awww fuck it! I miss you, Pryde. I do. I really miss you. An' I'm not just sayin' that because I'm off my face, I really do miss you. I think that yer bein' terribly unfair about all of this an' mebbe you should just listen to me and wot I have to say, yeah? I just… I know I fucked up, an' I'm sorry, but I heard that bloody Ramones song today an' I couldn't stop meself from thinkin' about the way I treated ya an' I know it weren't right, but the bloody Terminator? That's just… ridiculous… and a bit digusting, really… awww hell… just give me a call, would ya, luv?

Kitty huddled in the corner with her cell phone to her ear. She looked at Piotr's sleeping form guiltily as she replayed the message that Piotr thought she had deleted immediately, for the 5th time that hour. Why couldn't she stop thinking about this farkakt voice message? She finally closed her phone and crawled back into bed beside her unaware boyfriend.

Two weeks later, with the message still in her inbox, she received a package via Royal Mail. She waited until Piotr had left for the Met with his art class before she dared to open it. And she kept wondering why she was opening it at all. But, nonetheless, she opened it and found a rather interesting collection of things inside.

There was a CD lying on top of the rest of the assorted bricabrac inside. There was a yellow post-it attached to the generic plastic case. It simply read, "I used a computer for you. Impressed yet? –W." She grinned and placed it on the bed next to her while she sorted through the rest of her swag.

There were a few copies of The Times with headlines bemoaning the loss of Excalibur. This post-it note read "England misses you, too, Pryde"

A bottle of Ribena, which Kitty had drunk religiously while living in the UK was also in the box, along with what appeared to be a book, wrapped in brown paper. On the front of the brown paper was written in sharpie, "I really couldn't help it, Pryde. Don't hate me. I couldn't help it, so just get the joke and laugh about it, yeah?" She was suitably intruiged and tore the wrapping off of the book. She laughed out loud at what she saw inside.

Nestled inside the somewhat unoriginal wrapping was a hardback copy of Nabokov's _Lolita. _ She read it all that afternoon and then hid it in her sock drawer. Piotr had never cared for Nabokov.

Two more weeks later…

Logan was in her office when she returned to it after class. He was seated at her desk with his feet up, smoking a cigar. Kitty raised her eyebrows and he vacated her high-back chair, for one of the smaller ones in front of it. She seated herself behind the Mahogany desk and lit one of the Marlboro Lights she kept in her desk drawer. She had taken up smoking a little while after she returned to New York. No one really said anything, although Piotr had made it perfectly clear that he didn't approve. Kitty found herself really not giving a tinker's damn. She gazed defiantly at her mentor and wordlessly demanded he tell her what was so important.

"Emma says Wisdom called ya." Logan leaned forward and flipped up the edge of his Stetson with a finger so that Kitty could see his eyes a little better. He looked concerned, but it didn't bother her the way that it would coming from anyone else. Kitty decided to allow herself a few minutes of honesty with the man who knew her best.

"Yeah," she shrugged, "He left a rambling, drunken message. It was his fifth in as many days."

"An' the package?" He took a sip from the bottle of Molson Kitty hadn't noticed until now. "That from him, too?"

"Yeah." Kitty took a deep drag from her cigarette. "I'm not sure what to do here, Logan. I mean, Pete and I are old news and I'm really kind of pissed at him for having the arrogance to call me when he knows I'm with someone and that I'm happy. I mean, what does he think that I'm going to do? Ditch Piotr and just… run back to England? I have a life here, you know?" The Canadian nodded and eased back in his seat.

"And why does his calling you threaten that?"

"What?"

"So your ex is hung up on ya. So what? Why does that gotta change anything? Tell him ta go to hell and move on."

"Yeah…" Kitty took another drag and looked out the window to her right. "The problem is…"

"You can't?"

"Yeah." Kitty nodded, "I don't know what the hell is wrong with me, Logan! I mean, I should be able to tell him to fuck off, right? Instead, I'm saving his messages and lying to my boyfriend about them and… and I don't know!"

"How _are _things with Petey?" Logan put out the stub of his cigar on his boot sole and looked at her intently.

"Ummmm… I'm not really sure." Kitty stopped right in the middle of delivering her automatic 'Fine'. She had to be honest with Logan. He deserved that. "We don't talk much recently. I'm feeling guilty about this Wisdom thing, but I don't know why. And besides, things weren't good even before Pete started calling. The Emma thing really fucked us up. I think…" Kitty sighed, "I just don't know Logan."

"Well, how does Wisdom fit into all of this?"

"I'm not sure that he does. This has nothing to do with Wisdom. This is about Piotr and I, and things there are just not great. It's not anyone's fault. This… this shit that Emma put in my brain, it's… I know it's not real. It's just a psychological manifestation of evil. It never happened. I never had a son, and Piotr never betrayed me. I know that." Logan sat back in the chair and nodded.

"Do you?"

"That's sort of the problem. No. I don't. Every time we're together, and I look at him, it breaks my heart all over again. And when he looks at me, he just feels guilty for something he doesn't even have all of the information on. And it's killing us, but neither of us wants to be the one to say that. But seriously, I think that we're both just waiting for one of us to take the other up to the cliffs and tell the other one that it's over." She snorted and took a beer out of the mini fridge by her chair. She opened it and handed it to Logan before taking out another and opening it for herself. The Canadian nodded his thanks before taking an appreciative sip.

"So why don't you do it?" Logan leaned on his knees and looked her in the eye across the desk.

"Cause you'd sick Juggernaut on me." Kitty snorted and drank from her beer. She stubbed her cigarette out in her ashtray and Logan laughed.

"Nah…you'd kill 'im."

"True." Kitty smiled and then went serious again. "It's just… neither of us wants to feel like the one that gave up. Y'know? We both want to feel that we fought hard for this relationship, because anything less would be defeatist."

"Yup. I gotcha." Logan nodded, "Makes sense, punkin. But sometimes, you just gotta call a spade a spade. If it ain't workin', then it ain't workin'. Just let it go. Take 'im out somewhere- I'm thinkin' not the cliffs- and tell 'im the truth. That's not defeatist, kid, that's just real life. To be honest, I'm surprised Petey and you lasted as long as you did." Kitty's eyebrows went up.

"Why do you say that, Logan?" She lit another cigarette and offered him one. He shook his head.

"Because you have nothin' in common, Punkin. You were just together for the sake of being together."

"Then what was all that 'bout time' crap?"

"Honestly, two things. First of all, I just meant it was about time you got some." Kitty snorted and almost choked on her beer. "Well seriously, you were walkin' around her strung up tighter than a drum. I almost hired you a damn escort." He snorted himself before continuing, "And also, I figured this was what you kids needed. Get it out of your system, kinda. Rather than always wonderin' what could have been, now you know it's over. Now you can… I dunno… move on or somethin'."

"I guess," she shrugged, "I'll just have to figure it out."

"That's not all you have to figure out, kiddo. You better take some time, either before you break the news to Petey or after, to figure out where Wisdom fits into all of this and why you still haven't deleted that message."


End file.
